US agencies sign letters of intent to provide $4bn financing for Polish nuclear reactors

Two US government agencies have confirmed their intent to lend up to $4 billion (17 billion zloty) to support the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Poland that are being jointly developed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Orlen Synthos Green Energy.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States and the United States International Development Finance Corporation this morning signed letters of intent in Warsaw to provide the funds.

“Poland needs new energy solutions to protect itself from Russian influence, to meet climate commitments, and to drive economic development,” announced US ambassador Mark Brzezinski, quoted by Business Insider Polska. “And the US will always support its allies.”

The development follows an agreement last month between Orlen Synthos Green Energy, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and two further US and Canadian corporations to invest $400 million in jointly developing SMRs.

Today, the CEO of Polish state energy giant Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, announced that they would present 20 potential locations in Poland for the SMRs by the end of this year. The first is planned to be built by late 2028 or early 2029, he added.

“This energy is 30% cheaper than gas-fired power plants,” said Obajtek at a press conference. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, speaking alongside Obajtek, added that each SMR would produce savings of between €100 and €200 million per year in CO2 emissions costs.

“Small nuclear is a good way to quickly supplement the energy system. Today, coal-fired power provides us with security, but because of the climate policy of the EU, which we are in and which we want to be in, burning coal will become more and more expensive,” said Morawiecki.

The head of Synthos, Michał Sołowow, who is one of Poland’s richest men, noted that access to cheap and clean energy is increasingly important for the competitiveness of the Polish economy.

“Poland as a manufacturing hub is suffering from a loss of competitiveness. If we do not solve the energy problem, we will lose jobs…In order to produce, we must have cheap and available energy,” he said today, quoted by PAP.

“We assume that the Polish share in these investments will be about 55%, and 33% will be the import of technology from the US,” added Sołowow.

Poland’s government this month announced ambitious new plans for the country to generate three quarters of its electricity from zero-emissions sources by 2040, with 51% coming from renewables and almost 23% from nuclear. Currently, 70% of power comes from coal, the highest proportion in Europe.

Poland does not yet have a single nuclear power plant. The government, however, picked the United States and South Korea to develop its first large-scale nuclear power plants. Private and state-owned firms are also developing plans for SMRs.

No SMRs have been built anywhere in the world yet, but their proponents hope they will provide a more flexible, scaleable and safer form of nuclear power.

Main image credit: ORLEN Synthos Green Energy/Twitter

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.